General Motors moving international operations HQ to Singapore

DETROIT — General Motors Co. is moving its international operations to Singapore from Shanghai as its China operation becomes its own stand-alone division.

Executives for Detroit-based GM told various media groups that it will separate the international and China groups and will have about 120 people working in Singapore to oversee sales and marketing, product planning and communications. The Singapore location will give it greater access to key markets outside China such as Japan, India, South Korea and Australia as well as other locations in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Singapore currently is home to a distribution center for GM.

The Shanghai office will remain open, and focus on China, which is the world's biggest auto market.